Etched in History
by Captain LN
Summary: The Doctor and Martha are on another adventure, but everything is not as it seems. Enter Rynne, a girl with more than just a mystery about her... can the Doctor convince her not to publish her book before it's too late? First in an upcoming series!
1. And Travelling We Will Go

**Title: **Etched In History

**Author:** Moi, the dear Captain!

**Rating:** T - there won't be any fluff, but it's written for a slightly more mature audience. Possible language later on.

**Main Characters**: The 10th Doctor, Martha Jones and an original character

**Full Summary:** On another of their whirlwind adventures, the Doctor travels back to modern London to see who will become one of the greatest poets of the time. Instead, they find a university student with an unknown illness, busy writing a book that could not only change the future, but could destroy the universe. Can the Doctor work out what's wrong with the girl, stop her writing and save the universe before it's too late?

**Setting:** The physical setting is modern London. The story's timeline is set just before _Utopia_.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Doctor Who_ or any of the characters within bar the stated original character. This is meant for entertainment purposes only. Thank you, Auntie Beeb!

**Author's Notes:** I must admit, I'm a huge _Doctor Who_ fan, and simply couldn't help myself! Especially as this is my first entry on this site, I would really appreciate any feedback. Because I am also an avid writer, I would also love to hear from anyone that enjoys my style of writing and would like to co-create something, or would even have a request for a certain story/set of characters within this universe. Oh, I better just shut up and let you read on... Enjoy!

* * *

**Etched in History**

****

**_And Travelling We Will Go_**

"Right! Off we go, then!" The Doctor's cheery tones echoed around the inside of the TARDIS, and Martha couldn't help but giggle. He had been looking forward to their next set of travels, wherever they ended up, and the bright smile was contagious. The man leapt around the inside of his alien machine, dancing about the controls as if everything was just a game, and the student was loving every second of it. It was bizarre to think that she was beginning to view their time together as almost 'normal,' but when Time and space didn't matter, there was no such thing as 'normal' anymore. After all, hadn't they originally met when Martha was transported up to the Moon, along with the rest of the hospital she had been working in? Seeing those rhino-headed alien beings, the Judoon, if she remembered correctly, really jolted her sense of reality, along with learning that the man she had termed 'Mr Smith' was actually an alien himself: the Doctor. It was just a title, nothing more. There was no name, but that was only an extra facet to his mysterious existence. The fact only made him more alluring, though, making anyone that knew him want to come back for more.

Martha clapped her hands. "Where to today, Doctor?" She was a child in a candy store, knowing that the blue box she was travelling in with him could take the pair of them anywhere and any_when_, adding to the excitement of what could happen next.

A grin widened on the Doctor's face as he moved to one section of the control panel in the middle of the central room of the TARDIS, grabbing hold of a wheel and spinning it, letting it fly clockwise as long as it could. A mischievous gleam in his eye told her that it would be a surprise, his attention then returning to the controls in front of him to pull levers, press buttons, and yank another contraption out of joint. No one would ever really understand exactly what he was doing, but the TARDIS was his, a deep part of who he was, so why would he go and tell anyone? At any rate, back on his home planet he had failed the exam detailing how to pilot the machine, so what would be the point? Even though he wouldn't admit it, most of the travelling was damned good guesswork, at best. "Just you wait and see!" The words were as bright as ever, always looking to the much more positive side of everything.

The dark skinned student doctor looked on at her time travelling guide with an edge of lust. He was certainly handsome: tall, wiry, deep chestnut hair, and beautiful brown eyes. At very worst, he looked to be mid-thirties, which suited the younger woman just fine, but it was also hard to remember that he was 900+ years old. How could that even be possible? Stopping that train of thought, Martha just kept watching him, not wanting to make her brain explode. Being a trainee doctor, she knew that she was intelligent, but when faced with the technology and mechanics of an alien race older than almost every other, she just couldn't compare. The Doctor, now, _he_ was a genius. And handsome. And just plain wonder- "Are you just going to stand there, or hold on?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow, noticing that his newest companion had just been staring at him, half in a daze. His concentration then went straight back at the task at hand, leaving Martha to blush and find a handle to grab on to. Travelling in the TARDIS was amazing, but it was also a rather bumpy ride, and she had often cracked her head on the side of one of those curved metal constructs that led into the domed, gold/bronze interior of the main room a number of times. No, she had learned her lesson, and grabbed tightly onto two handlebars on the side of the control panel, tensing all of the muscles in her body as the central cylinder sprang into action, metallic circles pumping up and down as strange turquoise light beamed outwards, bathing the pair of travellers in its eerie glow. A familiar clunking sound, along with what could be similar to an ancient, wheezing engine could be heard echoing around the inside of the ship, along with the exterior, although no one would notice that without believing it to be a hoax. Outside of the craft, a blue 1950's police public call box slowly disappeared, the flashing light at the top being the last thing to go. Ordinary people in the street passed by, but did nothing: why should they, if they hadn't seen anything?


	2. Biography of a Mystery

**Etched in History**

**_Biography of a Mystery_**

Tapping her pen backwards and forwards on the desk, Rynne looked ahead, her gaze glazed over as her least favourite professor droned on about something she already knew. How was it that everyone else needed these revision sessions for their exams later on in the year, whilst Rynne herself could be told something once, and it would never be lost? It was true that philosophy was her favourite subject, but this man absolutely killed it, so she didn't even have the chance to just listen and be entertained by the thoughts of the great thinkers, instead doomed to allow her brain to melt into nothingness as the short, pot bellied man spoke in monotone. How excessively tedious.

It simply couldn't have been worse. Late afternoon, and the young woman could have been at home, working on her latest project, but no... Professor Williams had insisted that everyone attend his lecture, else marks would be deducted from the end of year score. Was he just threatening them? Rynne wouldn't have been surprised if he failed the person that didn't show, he was so pointlessly cruel to those he taught. The girl herself wasn't on his popular list, as once he had made an error about one of the theories he was trying to explain, and Rynne had the audacity to actually _correct_ him. That was a mistake never committed again.

After what seemed like days, Williams decided to let everyone leave. _Thank God,_ Rynne thought wryly, the inward thought making her smile. How apt, when much of her study was about whether that grand deity existed at all! She stretched, another student making a face at her when he heard the bones crack, stiffness set free from Rynne's body. Of an average build, Rynne always managed to make herself end up in the most strange positions as she leaned on her desk, and her body didn't like it one bit. She'd probably have to go to the doctor's to try and sort it out: she was always making her bones snap, and her stiffness was getting worse. God, she _really _hoped that it wasn't anything stupid like early signs of arthritis: she simply couldn't bear it!

At the age of 21, the long haired brunette was getting ready for her finals at the end of the year, and she still had so much to give. It was weird that she didn't go out often - so said her friends - and yet was often tired and irritable... but couldn't that just be due to stress she hadn't realised that she had been carrying? Rynne worked so well under pressure that she hadn't even spoken a word about fear for those dreaded exams, or when she was going to take the time to revise. Those that didn't know the lonely student thought that she was just uptight and cocky, but it wasn't the case. Why, when she had achieved a perfect set of results from all of her assignments so far?

That was enough about her university life, though. Maurynna de Lirmot wasn't exactly the most usual of people. Sent off to be adopted soon after her birth because of an apparently traumatic ordeal with her mother, the girl only had this strange name as her blood family's legacy: she had been told that her biological father was dead, whilst her mother was in an institution, so Rynne didn't mind it, the name being so unusual, reminding her of how lucky she really was. As no one had any idea who her father was, he could have been French or Italian, something like that, so why would she give up one of the few ties to her past? Not even her adoptive parents knew anything about before she was brought to them, but why should they care, either? They had wanted a child, and then they were given one: that was all that mattered.

So, apart from the terrible drama at Rynne's birth, she had a lovely time as a child. Oh, she was a prodigy, that was obvious from a young age, but that was just encouraged, her new parents proud of her no matter what she did. They were always a proper family, and loved each other dearly. That was what counted, wasn't it?

After passing her A Levels, the most obvious thing for Rynne to do was go to university. Disliking the pompous air of the Oxbridge schools, the girl then settled into another difficult to enter university, University College London, which also allowed her to leave her northern home properly, and venture out into the wide world herself. It was wonderful: where London was an enormous, bustling city, there was enough privacy for Rynne to enjoy, keeping herself fairly anonymous, just the way she liked it. Philosophy and Creative Writing were her fortes, so she followed those through as a joint course... and she loved her life.

Peace, though, was something that she craved now most of all. Her masterpiece was nearing completion, her first full novel, and Rynne hoped that in the next couple of weeks she could send it off to a publisher and finally reach her dream... to be a writer permanently. Smiling at the thought, the previous boredom that had cast such a dark cloud over the woman was replaced by a spark of ideas settling lightly on those azure eyes, making her rush as she wanted to get back to her shared flat, get up to her room and resume her typing.

Crossing a road, there was another of those shooting pains that bled across her chest, the girl then dropping down onto the tarmac as she had almost reached the other pavement. Now on her knees, her bag was left on the ground, Rynne's hands clutching in vain as the burning started again. It felt as if her whole body was being ripped in two as she shrieked out for help. Passers-by paused in their tracks as they saw who was obviously a university student holding herself in agony, three men picking her up between them, carefully taking her from the dangerous place she had fallen. The woman hadn't even noticed that traffic had stopped for her, a crowd gathering over what had become a bizarre attraction. She was far too busy worrying about her inability to breathe properly, and the world spinning around her. In another wave of torture, Rynne's muscles all went limp. Blackness had taken her into unconsciousness for the moment, losing her senses altogether. She didn't feel the men gently lying her down on the stone path, or even the strange whirring in the background. There was also no reason that she should have heard two sets of shoes running towards her, someone leaning down and trying to see what was the matter... but there must have been something there. After all, she had to be awake enough to understand what was going on when she murmured the word, "Doctor..."


	3. Doctors at Work

**Etched in History**

**_Doctors At Work_**

**__**

As the machine stopped moving, so too did the sounds of that alien engine, leaving the Doctor grinning from ear to ear. Martha watched him, wide eyed, unable to wait much longer to see where he would have taken her now. He had taken her to the past, to see Shakespeare himself, then forward to see New New York (count 15 'News,' but that's just a technical thing), and the next adventure was always greater than the last. Everywhere they went seemed to get much more exotic, well, apart from the time that he was going to just drop her back off at home. Right at the moment, though, that wasn't what the newest companion wanted to think about, as they were together now, and that's all that mattered. Well, not together _per se_, but they were travelling friends, and Martha could deal with that. Would a relationship with an ancient alien really work out in the long run anyway?

"Where are we?" Martha asked suddenly, the calm voice she had wanted slipping into something much more excitable.

"You always ask that... why don't you just go and have a look?"

"Alright, I will!" Beaming, Martha stood in front of the exit, taking a deep breath as she prepared herself to see something never before seen, heart beat racing ahead, her arms then flinging the doors wide open to find... the middle of London. Frowning, Martha poked her head out of the TARDIS, making sure that she wasn't mistaken. "Back here? What are we doing here?" She turned suddenly, folding her arms in defiance. "You're not getting rid of me again, Doctor. This just isn't fair!"

Raising an eyebrow, the Doctor put his hands in his pinstripe pockets as he walked past the headstrong student. "What are you talking about? We're going to visit someone rather special. I've always meant to meet her, the mystery's too good to keep away." As always, he was talking ninety to the dozen, and Martha was finding it difficult to keep up. Letting her arms drop to her side, Martha opened her mouth to say something, but the Doctor decided to continue. "Now, I think we're a little late, so we'll have to hurry. Last chance to see, and all that."

As the pair left the police box, further down the road that they were on stood a fairly large crowd. "What is it?"

"What's with you and the questions? If you don't know, go and find out!" The Time Lord was starting to get a little annoyed with the constant questions, but his true desire was just to get and see exactly what was going on. Curiosity was always an excellent trait to have, he believed, and he wasn't about to stop now. "C'mon, then!" Suddenly, the man started running down the street, Martha rolling her eyes as she followed. Would it kill him to once just stay in the background?

When they reached the crowd, the Doctor pushed his way to the front, the dark-skinned literal doctor-to-be not long behind him. They then found a girl, probably Martha's age, but collapsed on the ground, unable to breathe. "Hang on, gimme some space!" Martha called, her natural need to help people in need shining through. The Doctor looked on a little proudly, glad that he always picked the best people to be around. It also helped, considering he wasn't an _actual_ Doctor, even though that was always how he introduced himself. This time, he could pass off Martha just as a trainee, or something. He didn't really think about that, though, more concerned with the human lying on the pavement. The crowd was growing, interest breeding interest, especially as it was unknown why the girl was unconscious.

Putting a hand to her head, checking temperature and the like, Martha was then surprised when a sound escaped the young woman's lips. She was obviously unconscious, so it should have been impossible for her to communicate. That single word... "Doctor." Did she mean that she understood that Martha was a doctor (well, as long as she passed her exams), or was there something else going on? Looking a little fearfully back at the Doctor, he crouched down on the ground, ready to try something of his own, when the patient's eyes inexplicably flew open, the girl coughing violently. "Doctor..." a hand went to her chest, and another to her throat, as the burning of earlier subsided. Slowly sitting up, she closed her eyes again, the place spinning about her.

"Are you alright?" Martha then asked, putting a hand on her back. "What happened?"

A look at all of the other people quickly brought her back to her senses. "Nothing. I'm fine." A pause, then she added, "Thanks." Her voice was low, the crowd whispering amongst itself, as people obviously realised that they had other places to go, and there was little drama left.

"That's a bit strange for 'fine,' isn't it? Fainting in the middle of the street." The always-inquisitive mind of the Doctor couldn't help but scoff at her quick and easy explanation of 'nothing,' as he knew when 'nothing' was when he saw it.

Martha gave him a glare. "Just ignore him. Can we get you home? I'm Martha Jones, by the way" - where the girl began to shake her head, looking up at the Doctor suspiciously - "and this is... this is the Doctor."

She opened her mouth to say more 'nos,' and that she was fine, but a look of something entirely different took over her gaze. "Um... yes. That... that would be great. Thanks."

As the Doctor stayed crouched on the ground, Martha helped the mysterious girl stand, picking up her bag for her on the way up. "You're alright standing and walking, yeah?" At a nod, the Doctor stood, face a little impassive as he began to think about what could have caused a collapse... many ideas came to mind, but then the strange reawakening? That just didn't happen with humans, not like that. "You just walk, and we'll be there." Giving an encouraging smile, Martha kept the girl steady on her left hand side, waiting for the Doctor to fill the gap on the other.

As he did come to hold up her right side, the pretty brunette suddenly exclaimed, "No! No, sorry, I think Martha has it. Can you, um, get my bag, please?" It was a lame excuse, but there was nothing else for her to say. She bit her lip, and then just carried on walking. The girl really needed a sit down, but she wasn't about to rest outside... she needed her privacy.

"No? Oh, okay, then..." Giving a puzzled look to Martha, it was true to say that wherever the Doctor went, something strange happened. This may not have been the most exciting of adventures, but there you go... and Martha still didn't have a clue about why they came back to her present day. Oh, well, they always ended up getting sidetracked, didn't they?


	4. A Novel Experience

**Etched in History**

**_A Novel Experience_**

By the time that the trio reached the girl's flat, she was walking on her own, talking with them about mundane things, like the weather and the situation of traffic in London. It was Martha's idea, just to keep her talking, and get her much more relaxed before the time travellers started asking questions again about her collapse. A key slipped into the door, but they found it already open, the smell of pizza wafting out of the place to meet them. Despite herself, the girl smiled, inviting the pair of them in.

"Rynne, is that you?" a voice called from the living room. "You're late again! Where have ya been?"

Leaving both the Doctor and Martha to close the main door behind them, Rynne went to give her flatmate a hug. "Oh, you know what I'm like, Dina. Just stayed behind talking with the Professor."

"Mmm." Dina wasn't really paying that much attention, happy enough with the two boxes of pizza in front of her as a soap played away on the television. Rynne couldn't stand programmes like that: they were hardly an escape from reality, and few characters ever experienced anything good in their lives, so what was the point. Dina did, however, crack her head around to see two extra people in their flat. "New friends? I'm Dina. Talk to me when this is over, help yourself to pizza."

Rolling her eyes now, Rynne yawned, taking a slice for herself. "Go ahead, both of you. She won't move from there 'til about seven. I just need to go sort my bag out." With that, she left their presence to escape to her room. The Doctor began to say something important to Martha, but a definite "Shh!" from the woman lazing on the sofa told the pair that no more speech would be permitted. Each taking some pepperoni pizza, they then followed Rynne to her room, finding her looking through some notes.

"Doctor... doctor, doctor, doctor..." The words were obviously just meant for herself as she rifled through handfuls of hand-written pages, all obviously in her own hand. The frown showed deep concentration, and she was only disturbed from her search as the Doctor cleared his throat loudly, leaning on the doorframe to her room. Looking up, she gave up, at least for the moment, and motioned for them to enter. "Come in, it's not very roomy, but I'm a student, so I'm not about to complain."

Obliging, Martha smiled, sitting on the bed where Rynne was standing in front of her desk, whilst the Doctor walked a few paces into the fairly smallish room. Soft blues covered the room, with posters and pictures pinned up on the walls, all holding strange lines and symbols, a artistic design. "Are you an artist? This stuff's really good," Martha began, trying to start a conversation.

"No, you're a philosophy student, aren't you, Rynne?" A smug grin graced the Doctor's features. "And aspiring writer. Well, we'd _love_ to see something, we're huge fans!" The facts that had been troubling the Doctor finally clicked into place. It was when Dina downstairs had called the girl they had saved 'Rynne' that he had made the connection, giving everything a new spin on things. "Martha, may I present to you Miss Maurynna de Lirmot, one of the greatest philosophers and poets of your time!"

"How do you -?" She stopped. "Greatest poets? I'm not a poet, I'm a writer!" As the Doctor looked completely off-balance, Martha couldn't help but let out a little giggle. "What is this? Oh, I knew there was something strange about you from the moment I saw you. Is this just a practical joke? Did Dina look through my notes and do this on purpose? Very funny!" A darkness entered her gaze as her voice snapped at the pair before her. "Just because I write unusual things, it doesn't mean I've lost my grip of reality... I knew someone'd put you up to it!"

The mirth in Martha's eyes left just as quickly as it had come. "Joke? What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean... dressed as my characters, even using the same names for them: I'm not an idiot! And as soon as I get my apology, you can both leave."

The Doctor moved closer towards her. "We're not a joke. Maybe it's a coincidence... but that's not important now." He decided that while it would be interesting to see what she had written, the mystery of her on/off illness was the primary target, as it were. "What happened to you earlier?" He paused at her cynicism. "If you tell us, we might be able to help."

Sighing, she gave up. "Okay, I'll play along for now, _Doctor_." The name was spoken as if it was just another elaborate part of the plan to deceive her, but Rynne would tell them what was going on: it wasn't as if she or anyone else understood it, anyway. "I don't know what's wrong. Every so often, I get these pains in my chest, and I can't breathe. It feels as if my heart just stops beating - maybe it does - and then everything's okay again. It's only been the past couple of years, or so, and the doctors can't find anything wrong with me."

Martha decided to give some of her training a go. "It isn't a form of heart disease, or lung malformation?"

"No. Everything's fine. The only thing in there apart from ordinary organs and tissue is that my heart is slightly a little too far to the left. That's probably just it, but no tests ever say why that makes me black out for a while every so often." She paused again. "Why are you asking me this? It isn't as if either of you can do anything about it." Rynne's tone became much more suspicious: perhaps this was all part of a scheme for other students to nose into her private life. Then again, she said she was going to play along for now, didn't she? If they said anything to anything, she could just call them liars. Their word against hers... the facts could then just look as if they were vicious rumours, and not worth anything. That way, she could slip out of people's minds easily enough, which was more important. She could keep all of these bits and pieces until she published her first works, and then get out an injunction so no one could reveal any personal information about her unless authorised first. Rynne was a clever one, after all.

The Doctor wasn't convinced. Oh, he believed what Rynne said, but how come she wasn't a poet? He had never heard of her being anything but: Maurynna de Lirmot, with her poetry published post hum- Oh. That probably made more sense. The Time Lord had been so excited to find out where she spent her time at University so he and Martha could meet up with her that he forgot her fame came much after her death, when literally hundreds of poems were found scattered around her home. Actually, it probably wouldn't be too long before she went missing... how awful it was to remember something so macabre when standing in her presence. The fact that she had such a turn earlier, though, opened up a new possibility for where she went: perhaps a walk, then a stumble into the Thames? How easy would it be to be washed out somewhere, body lost until it was unrecognisable?

Snapping himself from those thoughts, he smiled. "Of course. My mistake... I just, ah, thought I'd read something of yours. A piece of writing, yes... very good, mind you. Very good." He suddenly noticed the stack of papers a little more. "And what would those be?"

"My masterpiece." Rynne became much more open and proud: she had worked so long on it, and it was near completion. If only she could pull together those last chapters... "It's all about a being I call the Doctor. Travelling in Time and space, losing all of his own kind, he has to battle biological machines - the Darlks - along the timeline, always managing to save the human race from extermination. His companions come and go - what?"

Rynne had to stop when she saw the faces of the two other people in the room. Both just stood, unbelievably silent, the Doctor awfully pale. That manuscript, if what Rynne said was true, was the Doctor's life...


	5. Primary Diagnosis

**Etched in History**

**_Primary Diagnosis_**

"But then again, you two know all about that, don't you?" Rynne abruptly went back into the recollection that someone had put these two actors up to impersonate the works of her masterpiece. "Stop changing the subject, and get out. Now. I'm not joking!" Her voice became higher with every new phrase, furious about everything that had happened. The strange expressions on those two strangers were beginning to frighten the student much more than you would first imagine: why would such a genuine look of horror appear on the faces of people that should have been laughing at her and her stories?

Martha was just about to say something, but then the Doctor cut her off, knowing that this was the best time to just back away. "It's alright, we're going." Holding up his hands, as if the girl were holding up some sort of weapon to him, he then slowly reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen. Scrawling out some words, the man held out the paper for Rynne to take, but she just stood and looked at him, her eyes narrowing. "It's the address where we're staying. Just in case you need us. Nothing scary, honest."

Reaching out to the gesturing hand, Rynne then paused, looking at the manuscript, and suddenly thought better of that idea. "Just put it on the desk, and leave." As the Doctor and Martha shared a slightly confused glance, the Doctor did as Rynne commanded, although he almost brushed past her. It was bizarre to see someone leap back so much, as if they were afraid of the touch, but he still said nothing, backing out of the room with Martha in tow. The pair didn't even utter a goodbye, they were too shocked by everything that had just happened. As they left her sight, Rynne plucked up the courage to call out after them, "Careful, I hope you haven't left the TARDIS parked on double yellow lines!"

The Doctor and Martha power walked from Rynne's home, the Doctor's expression grave whilst Martha was still reeling from what she had heard. "Did she just say TARDIS? And what was that she said about you? That wasn't real, was it? Maybe she was like a, a telepath or something!" She couldn't help but try to explain the phenomenon, but the Doctor still said nothing. "It had to be that, yeah? I mean, what else could it be?"

"I just need to think." The words were final, Martha's own suggestions not making sense. How could a girl know all about his life? It was impossible. Of course, the Doctor dealt with the impossible on a daily basis, but this was something else. If this was merely some kind of premonition, Rynne should have had some dramatic realisation of that fact, instead of believing that he and his companion were some kind of mocking of her work. If he had visited her earlier on, later in his own timeline, then Rynne would have recognised him, or at least understood that the Time Lords were real... oh, the spinning was starting to get to him, the man feeling a headache coming on. "C'mon, we need to get back to the TARDIS. Brush up on her history, see if we're missing anything." That had to be it. See if they were missing something elementary: didn't answers often come from the most unlikely of places?

Martha just nodded, keeping up with the person - being? - that she trusted the most. "Maybe we can visit her later, see if she calms down or something." The Doctor made a noise agreeing half-heartedly with Martha's sentiment as he was lost in his own thoughts. By that point, though, they were already back at the blue police public call box, opening the door, and walking inside. As always, the inside was infinitely - almost - larger than the outside, so Martha leaned on one of the railings inside. The Doctor, of course, went straight to the control panel, whirring some part to the machine as he stared into one of the screens, deep in concentration. "Find anything?"

"No," he replied. "Not yet. How odd..." The shock had sunk in by now. A young woman from Martha's present somehow had the details of his life, and was writing a book about him. In any other circumstance, the Doctor would have been almost flattered, but because it was so surreal, and completely dangerous, this was too strange to leave alone. He had to read that manuscript... perhaps there were only some bizarre coincidences that happened to make he and Martha seem like characters from her book. Perhaps she had seen the pair of them running towards the TARDIS, overheard a few bits and pieces, and that information had happened to travel through her brain, escaping through her creativity. It was a long shot, but the Time Lord hoped that that was the case.

Martha was taking the information a little differently. The danger of such a publication didn't really register for her, but she was a little hurt to not even have her name specifically mentioned. Companions? If Rynne really _could_ see into the Doctor's life, then did this just mean that she was one of a long list of people that had travelled in Time with him? Okay, so the memory of Rose was one that would stay with the Doctor for the rest of his life, but Martha felt even less important thinking that there were more than just one or two others who had spent time with him, travelling and escaping, whatever may be happening. "What's odd?"

"I can't seem to cross reference any of the symptoms that Rynne showed when she collapsed with any known medical illness in the universe." A stroke of his chin, and the Doctor pulled out those black plastic glasses, placing them on the bridge of his nose, scrunching his face up even more as a finger trailed down the screen before him.

"Maybe she lied about them."

"What about the middle of the street? Do you really think she faked that?"

"No, that was genuine. But..."

"But what? She was angry with us back at her place, and she didn't want any more information out of the bag." A thoughtful pause. "And her heart was a little too far to the left? That's only really possible with a heart malformation, but if there was no trace of that, why would there be seizures?"

Martha had no idea. "Hey, you know what was weird though?"

"Hmm?"

"She really didn't want to touch you, did she?" The Doctor stopped completely, looking at his companion without saying a word. "Well, it's true. She wouldn't let you help her back home, then she wouldn't take the paper from you. If it was a stranger thing, then she wouldn't have let me touch her, but she was fine with that. Doctor?" Martha noticed that he had taken the spectacles back off, eyes darting back and forth.

"I need to read that manuscript."


	6. A Note Out of Tune

**Etched in History**

**_A Note Out of Tune_**

As her supposed guests left, Rynne became absolutely furious. Who the hell had been looking at her notes? The manuscript of the Doctor and her other characters was her masterpiece, and she wanted to get it all published before anyone knew the much about it. The information she had given the two who were in her room mere moments earlier was the most that she had ever given anyone, and now she already regretted giving a name to the main enemy of her hero.

Storming to see Dina, Rynne walked right in front of the television screen. "Hey! I'm watching that!" Dina's television schedule was always tight, and usually she was just left alone to get on with it, but now Rynne was ruining it. There was a crucial conversation going on behind her roommate, and this just wasn't acceptable.

"What the hell did you think you were doing, going through my notes? That really wasn't funny, Dina. I don't laugh at you and your work, do I?"

"What are you bloody well talking about? Why would I want to go through your notes?" Stretching to try and see around Rynne, Dina gave up. "I don't care about any of your writing! Now, I care about seeing whether Steve will ever forgive Cheryl!"

The enormity of the soap opera was far too important to be wasted over something like Rynne's insecurities, that was obvious, but the philosophy student really couldn't care less about Dina's opinions at the moment. "Okay then, if it wasn't you, who else? And those two... who paid the actors? Was it Bobbi? Sam? Oh, I bet Greg wanted a laugh!"

"Firstly, Bobbi's dyslexic, and has trouble enough reading a handful of notes for her own lectures, Sam is away on holiday, and why would Greg need to hire some actors to upset you, when he irritates you well enough already? Flipping hell, just listen to yourself!" Dina shook her head, not even imagining that the two strangers she met before were the 'actors' that Rynne was talking about. "Now, can I _please_ get back to the show? Please?" Begrudgingly, Rynne moved, going back to her room to make sure that everything was definitely in its right place.

Sitting on her bed, the woman was at a loss to working out how the pair would have managed to work out the secrets of her story. It couldn't have all been a huge coincidence, could it? Looking around the room, she almost expected everything to suddenly change, her whole world crashing down around her, but everything just stayed the same. However, her gaze was drawn to that piece of paper now on her desk, the piece of paper that the mystery man had written on. Hesitantly, she picked it up, reading what he had to say. What was there was an address: obviously where the pair could be reached. Reading it again, though, the address was just a basic place outdoors down a back alley street. What was it, a stereotypical Mafia meeting? And how long would they both be there waiting for her?

The thoughts making Rynne shudder, she just folded it up, putting it into a pocket. There was a strange sort of feeling that the paper gave off that made her feel uneasy, as if it had some dangerous presence around it, and the sensation intrigued the student. Instinct told her to put it down, throw it out, something like that, but an overriding sense made her keep it with her, as if it were a kind of talisman. Sighing, Rynne just wanted an answer. She had to talk to someone... and she only knew of one person that would believe her.


	7. Not Just A Pretty Face

**Etched in History**

**_Not Just A Pretty Face_**

Martha couldn't believe that she had agreed to do this. It was absolutely ridiculous! With the Doctor making his excuses that he had to try and run a few more tests in simulations in the TARDIS, of course it was left to her to try and steal that poor girl's work. For all the pair knew, there just happened to be a ton of amazing coincidences, and now they were just going far too over the top over it. Then again, when did the word 'coincidence' ever pop up during her adventures with that Time Lord friend of hers? Shaking her head, the woman just carried on hurrying up the side streets of the city, hoping that she could work out whether Rynne was home or not. If she wasn't sure, she could always make up some excuse to hang around nearby, or something... didn't people often do that in police TV shows and the like? It couldn't possibly be much more difficult in real life!

It was much more difficult than the dark skinned woman had first imagined, trying to work out if someone was in the house. Oh, if the Doctor were with her, he could have just whipped out that sonic screwdriver of his, searched for life signs, and that would have been it. Cursing herself for relying too heavily on that alien technology of his, the realisation made Martha more determined than ever to get this right, proving that she was much more useful than that Time Lord obviously thought. There were too many times where the man berated her for what she thought were perfectly acceptable reactions, but a little voice always told her that she would never be good enough. She wasn't Rose.

Rose Tyler was a subject barely broached in the TARDIS, or with the Doctor at all, for that matter. All that was clear was how much the Time Lord cared about her, with her name bringing tears to his eyes, heaviness to his heart, and a distinct lack of information. Did the Doctor love her? Martha knew that he did, but it was if he was in a permanent state of denial over that fact. There were pieces of Rose everywhere: even down to the jumper that was left hanging casually on one of the bars of the TARDIS control room, as if the machine were expecting her to come back at any moment. By now, Martha had been travelling through Time and space for the equivalent of a number of months now, and was well established as a companion, but there was always this nagging doubt that she would never be good enough to compete with that memory.

Shaking those thoughts out of her head, Martha frowned in concentration, walking up and around the street surreptitiously, pretending to talk into her mobile phone. Eventually, there was movement in the flat that Rynne called home, and the student left in a hurry, thankfully not noticing Martha in her hurry to get to whatever her destination was. The theft would be much trickier now: if Rynne were hurrying to be somewhere, would she also be hurrying back?

Waiting a moment for the brunette to get out of sight, Martha walked calmly up to the front door. Despite the fact that the trainee doctor's heart was pounding, she knew that she could pull this off, if only she imagined the Doctor were here with her now. Knocking on the door, a minute passed before Dina opened it, the second member of this tiny household obviously wanting to be away doing something else. For a moment, the woman stood, realising that it must have been this girl and the guy from earlier that had made Rynne so angry. "Oh, it's you. What do you want? You got me in trouble with Rynne earlier, you know!"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry about that." Martha tried to stay completely upbeat, smiling at the woman in the doorframe, desperate to cover her nerves. "It was just a misunderstanding, that's all," she explained, not wanting to go into any more detail. As far as Martha went, she understood that a simple lie was much easier to remember and use again, so why make it unnecessarily complicated? Dina could always ask questions about it, though, so before the girl could ask them, Martha asked her own. "Look, I left a couple of bits of paper in Rynne's room, and I need them desperately. Can I just go and get them? I'll be two minutes; I won't ruin anything, I promise."

Dina looked at her suspiciously for a moment, but something else got the better of her. "Oh, alright!" she answered impatiently. "Rynne's going to be away for about half an hour, so you'd better hurry. I wouldn't let you in, but she'll kill me if she sees you or that other bloke around here again. Just don't do anything else, right?" Smiling and nodding, Martha was more than pleased that Dina didn't want to get on the wrong side of her housemate, so she went straight into the bedroom, as if she knew exactly what she was looking for, as well as where. Luckily, Dina didn't seem to be as uptight about everything as Rynne, so Martha was also just left to get on alone in the room, searching for the manuscript herself.

Now, right in the middle of a tiny room, she had hoped that the papers would be left on the desk as they had been earlier, but obviously Rynne had thought better of it. Instead, Martha had to start going through drawers – as quietly as possible – but they weren't there either. Sighing heavily, the woman was getting a little too panicky for her own good. Where could they be? Pausing for a moment, Martha thought about where she would hide her own most treasured possession. After such a bizarre turn of events, Rynne realising that her characters were real, Martha guessed that she would want the papers to be hidden where no one could possibly guess where they would be. Slumping down on the bed, the woman looked around the room, no clues as to where it would be. The strange papers were still on the walls, and the time travelling companion was satisfied to note that the Doctor's own scrap of paper was no longer on the desk. Okay, so it was more than feasible that Rynne had just thrown it out, but that suggested that she had at least touched it, which was more than she did for the Doctor. Her gaze then drawn up and around the room, Martha then had a brainwave. Of course!


	8. The Mystery Deepens

**Etched in History**

**_The Mystery Deepens_**

"Jane, I need to speak to you."

A crackle, then the intercom finally replied. "Rynne? Oh… this isn't the…" There was a pause, leaving Rynne frowning into the metal contraption that relayed their messages. "Give me a moment." A buzz, and the outer door of the block of flats opened, allowing Rynne access. Literally running up three flights of stairs, the woman was greeted at the door by someone at least forty years her senior. Dark grey hair and old brown eyes told of many battles she had won and lost, Jane giving the younger woman a small smile and a brief hug. "You haven't visited me in so long, I thought that you didn't need me any more."

Rynne glanced behind the older woman, realising she had ever right to be angry with her. "Look, some of the things you told me were, um, a little hard to understand, but I really need to tell you something. Can I come in?"

Sighing sadly, Jane moved backwards, eyes darting behind her for a moment as she motioned with her arms that her younger friend should enter her home. Stopping for a moment, it was as if Jane wanted to tell Rynne something, but couldn't quite find the words. Finally giving up, the pair walked into the tired living room, sitting down on the old but comfortable seats. Without saying a word, the older woman then got up again, making excuses that she needed to make them both a cup of tea, and so Rynne was left on her own for a minute or so. This place had been like a second home to her as she had been growing up, Jane being the woman that had managed to give Rynne the fresh start in life she had needed when she was a baby. In fact, she had been the one that had stopped her mother from killing her, and gave her straight away to her adoptive parents. That was why Rynne had always looked at her as some kind of guardian angel, and now felt completely terrible that she had stopped coming to see her for quite a number of months now.

Coming back with a small tray, there was a forced smile on Jane's face, offering the student one of the cups. Taking it gladly, Rynne took a sip, not caring that it was hot enough to burn her mouth. All she wanted was some normalcy, and this was going to be as normal as it got. After all, she was preparing to tell her mentor something she wouldn't tell anyone else, and things could never be the same between them again. "Thanks, Jane. I… I'm sorry I haven't come to see you in so long, but-"

"But you were starting to think that I was going senile?" The words cut much more sharply than Rynne had thought they would, the woman even flinching at the correct assumption.

"If you were in my shoes, you would have thought exactly the same thing." Rynne wasn't about to deny how she had felt. Jane had watched intently when Rynne had come to her, terrified of the black outs that she was having up to two years ago, the student grateful that there was someone there to rely on. She had never told her parents, for fear of them forcing her to come home because of the mystery that surrounded the illness, but Jane was always there. Thank whatever was up there for Jane being there for her, or else Rynne would have had no idea what to do. "You were quiet for a while, then started blaming my seizures of aliens from another planet! What else was I supposed to do?"

Jane sipped her own tea, avoiding Rynne's gaze. "But then you started writing, didn't you? It was always the Time Lords and the Doctor." Putting her cup down on the saucer that had accompanied it, she stopped. "Have you changed your mind about what I've said? Is this what this is all about?"

Rynne rubbed her eyes, wishing suddenly that all of this were just some kind of terrible dream. "I… I saw them." A crash found Jane's cup and saucer shattered on the floor, shards of china all over the thin carpet beneath their feet. "Jane? Are you alright?"

She didn't even register that there was anything wrong. "You saw them? Saw who?"

The demanding voice of the older mentor brought reality crashing around the pair of them as surely as gravity had worked its way on the cup itself. Rynne swallowed, feeling like some kind of naughty schoolchild, forced to tell the headmistress something bad that she had done. "The Doctor and one of his companions. Martha Jones." Before Jane could comment, Rynne just wanted to get everything off her chest. "I had a seizure coming down one of the streets, and they were there, helping me up. They took me home, and were just how I wrote them!" Shaking her head, the aspiring writer continued. "They asked questions about everything, and I thought it was a joke at first, but no one could have possibly read the manuscript. No one! They were even shocked to hear what I was writing about, and… and the Doctor left this." Fishing into her pocket, Rynne produced the paper that she had picked up from her desk. "He told me to go to them if I needed anything, but…"

"Don't see them." Hard words were something that Rynne had not expected. "They're dangerous, Rynne, and you don't know what they can do. Just finish your work, and then everything will be fine."

"Look, Jane, are you okay? You're not even questioning their existence! Have you really changed that much since I saw you last?"

"Just listen to me! Get it finished, then come back to me, so we don't have to worry about this any more!" At Rynne's shock, Jane softened slightly. "Take this with you." Reaching underneath the sofa, the woman pulled out an unknown object. At the base, it was completely flat, and it could have been a polished, curved stone if there wasn't a strange metallic quality about it. "If you really need to go and see them, take this, and leave it inside the TARDIS."

This information just confused Rynne even more. "You're saying this as if you think it all had to be real!" The fact that she also knew the word 'TARDIS' was also just as worrying, but there were too many other questions to ask than be occupied by something much smaller like that. "Maybe this was all just a bad idea. I'd better be going." A lump in the girl's throat told of how sad she was that her beloved Jane had changed so much, and she couldn't bear to be around this new version of her.

Standing when Rynne did, Jane didn't even blink as she held out the object for Rynne to take. "Just do as I told you, and everything will be taken care of." Nervously, Rynne held out her hand and took it, running her thumb over the smooth surface, surprised at how heavy it was. Black shone from it, and her first thought was that it was some bizarre little paperweight. She wouldn't be surprised if Jane really had gone off the deep end, considering how strangely she was acting. Could it really be possible that someone could become mad in such a short space of time?

"Jane..."

"I think you should go." The words were so final, it physically stung the young woman, eyes questioning the mentor that had meant so much to her. Before now, she had always been the person that Rynne knew she could depend on, and it seemed that her rock had just crumbled. Tears welling in her eyes, Rynne just nodded, not wanting to answer for the break that she knew would enter her voice.

Squeezing a little more tightly on the black object in her hand, Rynne stood, walking out of the flat, running back down the stairs, and just breaking down into floods of tears when the open air of outside hit her. In a single day, almost everything that she had ever relied upon in her life was being destroyed, and there was too much confusion within her to even begin to logically think about. She couldn't turn and talk to Dina, and, quite frankly, there was too much fear to actually go to the address the Doctor gave her to figure this all out.

The only place she could go to now was her home, and hopefully regroup there, away from the rest of the world. Maybe she would lie down, and find that this was all just a terribly cruel dream, her subconscious wanting her to suffer for some unknown reason. The only thing at the moment the girl could rely on was the sensation of the object in her hand, neither hot nor cold, simply _being_. Looking down at her hand, trying to concentrate on something other than her own salty tears was just one thought. There was just something that didn't fit, and the Doctor was part of her puzzle.


	9. Heavy Reading

**Etched in History**

**_Heavy Reading_**

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor rubbed his eyes, then put his spectacles back on as he tried looking somewhere else in his symbiotic machine's databanks for any information that may shed some light on what was going on. Slumping towards the centre of the console, he simply couldn't fathom what was wrong, and he didn't like it. By now, with all of his tools at his disposal, some clue at least should have popped up, telling him to look in a certain direction, but this just wasn't running how it should. Thinking a little more about his usual adventures, this one should have been a disappointment at best, considering he and Martha weren't running for their lives or anything like that yet. _Wishful thinking_, he thought wryly, returning to more research.

Of course, everything that the Doctor was trying to glean information from wasn't helpful. There was little information about Rynne bar her work, and snippets of details of her life, but nothing to even hint that there was something strange about her. The girl's death wasn't even sure: one day, the student had just gone missing, going out one morning and never going back home again. It had been believed that she had gone out, with someone picking her up, and… well, a body was never found. Stepping away from the middle of the control panel, the Doctor decided that he would have to do something else. Think of something else. After all, the Time Lord was a genius, everyone who met him knew that, so it shouldn't be too hard for him to figure out at least _something_ of importance.

So, what were the facts? Rynne fell unconscious every so often, and came to of her own accord. There was no malformation in her body, either, so the affliction couldn't be blamed so readily on something like that. Perhaps it was just as simple as it being a new illness that no one ever classified. Weirder things had happened in the universe than that. Of course, what _was_ much more strange was the fact that she was writing a story about him. This was the idea that the Doctor couldn't seem to grasp. How could it be even remotely feasible that someone could write about him, his companions, his adventures even, and yet believe that it was all just a figment of their imagination? Didn't Rynne sit up and think that everything she was dreaming up was far too complex for her mind to keep up with, at least? 'Obviously not' was the simple answer to that, and silently the Doctor started to cross off possibilities from a mental list. If she was telepathic, the story would just come to her head now, the student only beginning to write it, not almost be ready to finish it. If Rynne was psychic – for want of a better word – she would know that the Doctor was a reality, not a fantasy. If she had just picked up on certain aspects of his travels, if she had seen him in the street and overheard different terms… How would she have known that something as abstract as the word 'TARDIS' was at least a vehicle of some kind? Even if someone overheard the sentence, "We need to get back to the TARDIS," as was often spoken by that favourite Time Lord, it could have been just about anything.

Still tangled in that intricate web of questions, the Doctor snapped his gaze sharply upwards as the door to the TARDIS opened and closed quickly, a panting Martha desperately catching her breath hanging onto one of the bars along the outer rim of the machine's entrance. It was obvious that she had been running, but she still couldn't manage to suppress a wide grin as she looked up at him, the Doctor mirroring it when he saw a stack of papers in her other hand, all tightly bound together. "Martha Jones, what would I do without you!" he exclaimed, walking over to her and taking the papers from her carefully, leaning them on top of the central console.

"Yeah, well, you better remember that," the female time traveller retorted cheekily, the grin even wider, if it was possible. It was times like these that Martha absolutely adored travelling with her alien friend, when he truly appreciated her. "Dina said she'd be back soon, and you left Rynne with a note saying where we were. She'll come right here when she gets back home!"

"Won't it take a little while to realise it's gone?"

"Well… not exactly." At the Doctor's gaze, Martha quickly explained what had happened. "I couldn't find the manuscript, right? So, I sat and wondered where it could be. I thought, though, if you're a writer, yeah, you would want more than one copy about the place, just in case. And Rynne was really worried about hers, so it made sense." A mischievous glint entered the human's eyes. "Anyway, remember all those weird drawings and stuff on the walls? I have a brainwave! All of the writing is on the back!"

"So you've taken all of the papers from her bedroom wall? Oh, Martha, that's brilliant! Utterly, utterly brilliant!" The Doctor couldn't have been more pleased, but the experience was short lived, considering his attention was then completely taken by the papers. "Right. Now… now we see what this is all about!"

Martha moved forward, standing barely a couple of feet away from the Doctor as he picked up the hunk of paper, flicking through all of the pages at an amazing speed. It was one of the talents of his race, quick thinking and quick reading, so he could literally flash pages before his eyes and understand everything there. A useful talent, that was, something that amused those that knew who he really was, and yet helped preserve all kinds of information. For example, when the Romans torched the Great Library of Alexandria back when Cleopatra was Queen of Egypt – the Doctor called her 'Cleo,' of course – he had used his talents to memorise all of the text within those walls, saving all of the wonder that was ruined by fire to his own memory, and downloading it into the TARDIS for future reference. In some sections there were pieces that he deliberately deleted to stop anyone gaining information that could ravage history, but the main content was there, and that was all that mattered, even if it had been impossible to save the actual scrolls themselves.

Back in the present (Martha's present… the present of… oh, time travel was confusing!), Martha stood impatiently as she wanted the Doctor to explain everything. "What is it?"

"She knows."

"What?" Hands on her hips, the newest companion was getting a little tired of the Doctor's stupid answers, not really telling her anything more than she already knew. "What does she know?"

"Everything." Putting the paper down, he looked darkly at the human merely steps away from him. "And if we don't stop her, if she finishes this… the universe is doomed."


	10. A Touch Too Much

**Etched in History**

****

**_A Touch Too Much_**

**__**

Rynne couldn't help the vast waves of emotion that she was feeling. Her world finally _had_ begun to fall around her, those cursed walls of Babylon finally going, as she had expected them to go back when the Doctor and Martha had originally left her room. Why was this happening? And then Jane... _oh, Jane..._ Sombre thoughts of the older woman made Rynne clench her jaws in a vain attempt to stop any tears from falling. Her old mentor had never been like this before, but now Rynne couldn't simply blame her behaviour on senile dementia. Jane had clearly understood several concepts from her book, which was, quite frankly, impossible. Everything was going wrong on such a colossal scale.

Partway home, Rynne spotted a bench along the road, and uncharacteristically sat down, needing to sit and think. In the past, she would have made sure that she was home before contemplating anything, but today's events had tossed everything upside down anyway, and Rynne was still physically and mentally getting used to the changes. Slumping on the wooden slats, hand touching the cool, black metal that kept the structure up, a semblance of reality and normalcy was exactly what the student needed. Eyeing the black painted surface, she then fished into her pocket to pull out the mysterious object that Jane had given her.

What was it? It wasn't even as if Rynne could safely guess whether the material was metal or rock, it was as if it was completely alien. Rynne shuddered at the word. Ever since the word 'alien' started popping up, nothing had ever been the same again. Now, she wished that she had never started that damned book of hers, but images of the Doctor and the Time Lords were getting stronger now, so strong that her only outlet was through her writing. If she had a choice, she would stop writing, just in case that would return how her life used to be. Writing was her passion, but she would give it up if it meant that she could just be like everyone else, just for a little while, at least. Not that she had a choice about the book now. There were times that Rynne just felt compelled to write, hands flying across pages as if she were in a dream, the girl not knowing what she had written until after a section was completed.

Sighing, Rynne knew that she wasn't getting anywhere. With a final look at the unknowable object, she put it safely back in her pocket, finishing the leg home. Maybe Dina would have her stupid television programme on... it was a ridiculous comfort, that Rynne wanted to escape in the boredom of her usual evening, but it was the most that she could hope for. She doubted that any of her other problems were just going to disappear.

Reaching her home, Rynne brought out her key to fit in the door, but, once more, it was already open. However, there was an eerie silence to it, a void in what was usually a happier home, despite clashes between the two flatmates. Rynne's heart rose to her throat, swallowing nervously. Nothing could have happened here, could it? Dina never just left the door unlocked; in fact, she was the one that always preached to other people, knowing that the television itself could be stolen, and how else then would she be able to see her favourite shows?

"Hello? Dina?" Rynne slowly clicked the door shut, the rushing of blood around her body like screams she was afraid someone else would hear. Taking each step with the careful deliberation of someone knowing that they were about to enter a minefield, Rynne was desperate to quieten her panicked breaths, poking her head around the door of the living room. The television was still on, remote carelessly dropped on the floor, but she noticed that the sound had been lowered, barely leaving the presenter on the screen to give anything more than a background hum. "Dina? Are you here?" Despite the fact that Rynne wanted to seem stronger and braver, her voice cracked with fear. Usually, if something like this had happened, she wouldn't have acted like this, but considering everything that had happened, Rynne believed that she had more than enough reason to be afraid.

A figure moved from out of the kitchen, a room on the other side of the living room. A scream, and then the unknown dropped a plate - a plate? "Rynne! Bloody hell, what are you doing skulking about? Oh, that was a good plate, that was..." Dina knelt down, picking up the bigger remnants of the china. "Go and get the dustpan and brush, will you?" There was more than a hint of annoyance from Rynne's flatmate, but the student herself just let out a relieved laugh. Oh, she was getting quickly paranoid, that was becoming increasingly obvious, but at least Dina was okay: that was all that mattered.

"I'm sorry, I just thought... oh, it doesn't matter." Rynne shook her head in defeat, going into the kitchen, and finding the required items in the cupboard under the sink. Back in the living area, she got down on her knees with Dina, and started sweeping up the mess. At least the plate hadn't disintegrated into a sharp powder, or else they would have to get the vacuum cleaner out for it. Once they were done with their cleanup operation, Dina slouched back in the chair, hands just in reach of that wayward remote. How stupid had Rynne been? Just because a few words escaped an old friend's mouth, it didn't mean that Rynne was in danger, or that any of her friends were in danger either.

The pair spent about an hour together, Dina surprised at Rynne's apparent interest in her shows, until the latter student felt comfortable enough to be on her own again, and retired to her room. "Dina!"

"What?" Dina called back from the other room, still too busy watching the screen to really wonder what was going on.

"Where are the papers on my walls? They're gone! They're all gone!" The high-pitched panic was unbelievable, Rynne scrambling around the room to see whether some had just fallen down, despite how ridiculous that particular theory sounded. Storming back into the living room, Rynne was absolutely livid. "I swear to whatever the hell is up there, you better tell me where they are, Dina! You've been the only one here, so don't you dare tell me you don't know!"

Dina's expression betrayed her. At first, she wanted to just try and shrug it off, but the colour drained from her face. Oh, Dina didn't know how important the manuscript was, but she knew of its value to Rynne, which was more than enough to make her feel terribly guilty at her carelessness. That Martha must have done it... why didn't she follow her, and check what she was doing in there? "Oh, Rynne, I'm so sorry..."

"Sorry? Why? What the hell happened?"

"That girl, Martha, she told me she left something in your room, and-"

"And you didn't bother keeping an eye on her? Or was that bloody stupid TV set more important?" Anger spat out from Rynne's lips, furious beyond any emotion she had ever felt before. "How could you, Dina? How _could_ you?" Stalking out into the street, Rynne made sure that she had that scrap of paper from the Doctor with her. Glancing at that back alley address, she started running down the street, barely even aware of the black object still with her, the thing beginning to hum was an unknown energy powering it.

Down the darkening streets she ran, the student desperate to catch the Doctor wherever he may be, not willing to give up on the thing that had been her world since she was eighteen years old. That was when the visions came, when she had felt that she had to start writing, so it was a huge part of her life. More side streets, and nothing could come in between Rynne and her destination. The only constant now was the _crack, crack, crack_ of Rynne's shows against concrete, and the _thud, thud, thud_ of her heart, ready almost to explode with everything that she had been through.

Stopping abruptly, Rynne found the address, hands rising to her mouth in shock when she saw what was standing there. A bright blue police telephone box stood out from the greyer surroundings like a beacon, Rynne not being able to believe what she saw. This was one of the visions in her book, exactly as she had imagined it, down to the last chip of paintwork on the outside. She approached it, unsure as to whether this was real, or if she really _had_ lost it. Reaching out towards it, as if touch would be able to solve all of her problems, a swimming sensation in her head began to take over, the girl closing her eyes for a moment to balance herself. Ready, her eyes fluttered back open, right hand poised over a wall of the box.

Finally allowing her fingers to brush the supposed figment of her imagination, Rynne felt the coolness of wood beneath her fingers. It was the TARDIS. Retracting her hand completely, the same pain from earlier shot across her whole existence, causing her to cry out, dropping to her knees on the ground. It felt as if someone was taking their hand and squeezing her internal organs, teasing her body onto the brink of annihilation. "Doctor..." she murmured, holding her hand out to the TARDIS again, but her consciousness left her collapsed. With Rynne now unconscious beside the TARDIS, however, something else started to gain more energy, ready to spring into action the moment it was commanded to. That innocuous black object started giving out heat, the surface glowing a dark light… but who would notice it, the thing tucked away safely in a pocket?


	11. The Nightmare Begins

**Etched in History**

**_The Nightmare Begins_**

A splitting headache was what roused Rynne from her unconsciousness, making the student completely disorientated when her eyes finally fluttered open. A hand rising to her skull, her head was still pounding, making it easier for confusion to take over. Where was she? The last thing that Rynne remembered was touching the side of the TARDIS, and then those dreaded pains again...

The TARDIS! Of course! She had to be inside of it now, as the Doctor and Martha wouldn't have just left her outside. Not if they were the characters that Rynne had created all along: it wouldn't make sense for them to suddenly change their behaviours now. The line of thought giving the young woman a new resolve, she sat up, although the movement was obviously too quick for her body to handle. A wave of nausea washed over her, the surroundings spinning out of control. Giving up for a moment, Rynne closed her eyes, waiting for everything around her just to calm down.

When she finally was able to stop the room from its impossible movements, Rynne noticed that the inside of the TARDIS was completely unlike what she had originally imagined. She had imagined a main control room, with a panel in the centre, a large, thick tube running from that same panel up into the ceiling. She had imagined a golden bronze colour on the walls, metal floors and an unearthly greenish-blue light emanating from the main structure, the whole centre in similar shape to a dome. This, on the other hand, was utterly different, unlike anything Rynne had ever seen, and it terrified her.

Finding the strength to stand, Rynne took in her surroundings. She had just been lying on the hard ground: the floors were metal, but a polished black, not the silver of her supposed vision of the Doctor's alien machine. Around her, it was true that there were golden colours, but the walls were flat and lifeless, straight and angled instead of that comforting curve she thought that she had seen. The room was smallish and rectangular, with an equally rectangular door at the end of it, but it was shut. Locked, in fact, when Rynne tried to force it: she was a prisoner.

"Doctor? Martha? Where am I?"

"Quiet. I'm trying to think." The words shocked the poor girl, whirring around to see two figures at the end of what should probably now be termed a cell. It was the pair of travellers that Rynne had expected to be her captors, stuck in the same position as her.

"What happened? I mean, one minute-"

"You collapsed, and now you're here? Yes, yes, but I need to think! I just _said_ I was trying to think: I didn't just say it for fun, you know!" The rudeness of the tenth regeneration of the Doctor was well known by now to Martha and most others that had met him. Now, he sat, head in his hands as a frown of concentration made its sanctuary on his brow.

Martha, on the other hand, just sighed, knowing that she would have to try and sort something out. "Oh, don't worry about him. He gets like this when he doesn't know what to do." The words sounded inevitable, and words that Martha would say. The fact that Rynne's characters were actually in existence was a rather abstract concept: when they were right there in front of her, speaking lines that she would have written for them... now, that was something special.

Still standing, Rynne backed away, slumping into one corner. "This is all wrong... all wrong..." Fresh tears fell down her cheeks, the girl shaking her head as her mind was desperate to try and comprehend what was going on.

"Wrong? You were the one that brought the tracking device on board... do you know what you've done? Now, they have us, as well as that manuscript of yours!"

Anger just didn't seem to cover how the Doctor was feeling, venting all of his frustrations onto Rynne, sitting alone in one corner of the room. "Tracking device?"

"The little black object that you had in your pocket. Tracking device."

"But... but that's impossible!"

"And yet you're here?" The Doctor had a point, Martha raising an eyebrow at the use of one of that Time Lord's favourite phrases. "Where did you get it, Rynne? Or is there something else you want to tell us?"

Her eyes darting everywhere for an answer, Rynne had no reason not to tell them where the tracking device came from. "I went to see Jane, and told her about seeing you. She told me not to visit you, then visit you, and leave it in the TARDIS... I don't know why!" A look of desperation took over her face. "What, you think I did this on purpose? Oh, wonderful. Now my own damned characters have an axe to grind!" A wracking sob, and Rynne ended up almost curled into a ball in the corner. This was just far too much to understand. Today... today everything had gone so badly, terribly, completely, _utterly_ wrong, it was unreal. Was she dreaming? Was this all a nightmare? It would be wonderful to think so, but it didn't look as if it was going to happen.

The Doctor then glanced at Martha, instantly regretting how hard he had been on the writer. Trapped here, no idea who their captors were... and he had just wanted a scapegoat, which was an awful thing. It wasn't Rynne's fault, it was clear that she had no idea what the black device was, and from the sounds of it, she had been duped by this 'Jane' character. "We're not your characters, Rynne. We're here. Right here, and we were real all along."

Rynne just shook her head. "Maybe I _have_ finally cracked. First Jane, then me. Maybe it's catching!" Balling up her fists, the students' muscles tightened as she stopped another sob. "Aliens, Time Lords, TARDISes and time travel..." The words were spoken as if they were a mantra, something that she had sat and memorised. "If I just finish writing the book, then this will all disappear, and everything will be alright again. It has to be."

"And you honestly think that all of this is going to go away? This is real, Rynne, you have to accept that. You've been writing about me and my people, and... and it has to stop."

"I can't stop! Why should I stop? I only need to write about Bad Wolf and the Vortex, then everything will be over." At the words 'Bad Wolf,' the Doctor flinched. "I just... I didn't believe, then I did believe, and now I find myself in an alien prison with fictitious characters, and... and I don't know how I'm even supposed to _begin_ coping with this. It's just... it's unreal!"

Martha had sat quietly, watching the banter between the pair of them. Finally, she decided to speak up, and see if she could help, even just a little. "Well, why don't you treat this as a role-play? Like, tell me and the Doctor what to do, yeah, and maybe that'll help you!" The Doctor, at first, looked at his dark skinned companion with a raised eyebrow, but quickly warmed to the idea. After all, this would truly test her knowledge, and see whether this was all just part of a bigger set up. "What do you have to lose?"

"I suppose you have a point," Rynne replied, unconvinced as she sniffed, regaining some composure. The shock was beginning to leave her, the student starting to think that it had been the return of her senses within these strange surroundings. At least now she had something to really concentrate on, Rynne giving Martha a small, thankful smile. "Okay... well... the Doctor would use his sonic screwdriver on the lock of the door, springing us out. The supersonic waves of the transmitter would vibrate the mechanism, opening the lock."

Clearing his throat, the Doctor pulled out his screwdriver. "First thing I tried. The door is deadlock sealed, with our captors holding the only means of letting us out." Martha was still amazed that Rynne could sit and nod, knowing exactly what the Time Lord was saying. The two of them were like peas in a pod, knowing exactly what the other meant, where she was still on the outer edges, having no idea what to do or say next, wanting to know what they meant but too afraid to ask.

Sensing Martha's discomfort, Rynne stood, drying her eyes, concentrating more on trying to help out. "A deadlock seal is basically something that cannot be broken by use of the sonic screwdriver. Basically, we're trapped." Martha was going to try to be clever and point out that Rynne had used 'basically' twice, sounding rather like the Doctor, but she thought against it. The odds would end up at two to one, with Martha herself being in the obvious minority. Rynne, on the other hand, was too busy trying to think of another way out. "Actually, why do we need to get out?"

Martha's eyes opened widely. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, wait... go on," the Doctor said, encouraging Rynne's train of thought.

Starting slowly, her own mind getting used to the seemingly obvious logic, Rynne swallowed. "Well, if we were going to be killed, the ones that have us would have done it by now, so we have to be safe for some reason."

"To be killed later on? No thanks!"

The Doctor agreed with the philosophy student. "She's right. We have to be of use alive, or else why go to all of the trouble of caging us like this?" Martha was going to argue that their captors may have devised some awful torture for them, or that they wanted them to stay alive for some kind of gladiatorial set of games, but she knew that she'd just be overruled by the pair of them anyway. Watching Martha's sigh of resignation, the Doctor paused, thinking for a moment. "Anyway, we still all need to have a proper chat. You seem to be doing a bit better now," he then commented, looking directly at Rynne. "Maybe it was just the teleportation that sent your emotions off the chart."

"Or maybe I'm doing my best to get used to you both actually existing." She stopped, silently apologising for the bite behind her words. "If this is all real, how can this be happening? How can I possibly know about the Time Lords, and you?"

Martha couldn't help but chip in. "Well, we don't really know, I thought of all kinds of stuff, but the Doctor just said it wasn't possible. Why did you even start writing it?"

"Because of my dreams." The Doctor raised an eyebrow as his curiosity piqued, Martha frowning as she readied herself to pay close attention to the next set of information. "I started having these strange dreams… I was probably a few months into being eighteen, then every time I slept, I had dreams of space. Over time, they got stronger, like movie scenes were playing." Shaking her head, she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a natural writer, so the natural thing to do would be to get the dreams down: they were so fantastic, I thought it was just my muse helping me out. Eventually, it became an obsession. And then the seizures… they were what drove me to write as much as I could each day. I don't know whether one day I may just have a heart attack and… well, you know."

It all seemed a little too out of the ordinary for even the Doctor to really have an answer about. First, the dreams, and then Rynne's attacks, landing her unconscious for no known reason at all. How could this even begin to make sense? "So where did this 'Jane' come into the picture?"

"Jane? She's the only person I've ever really trusted. She…" Rynne cleared her throat, refusing to start crying again. A part of her told her not to go on, not to reveal anything else about herself, but this was the Doctor. The only thing that seemed right was that she had to tell him everything she could, and hopefully he could work out everything before it was too late. "She was the one that helped me find a family. When I was born, my mother went mad and tried to kill me. Jane protected me, and gave me to the people I call my parents now. She's always been there: oh, Doctor, you can't judge her. She's senile, and whoever told her to give me the transmitter must have confused her."

Martha looked around. "It must be hard for you to have seen her. Did she have family, or her own nurse, or something?"

"No, no, I…" Suddenly, Rynne felt rather foolish and uncaring. "I always presumed it was senile dementia. She started rattling on about aliens being the reason behind my heart problem, and one day I had enough. I hadn't seen her in months before I went to see her about you two."

Sharply, the Time Lord caught Rynne's gaze. "Aliens? What did she say?"

At first, Rynne was going to reply with a slightly vicious comment, but then she remembered exactly who she was dealing with. If he wanted to know about it, the information was bound to be important, so why deny him it? "Jane started saying that she knew aliens performed surgery on me, or something, and that's why I collapse. She also said something about signals to pick up information on the Time Lords… which I suppose could be true, considering the manuscript." Running a hand down her face, Rynne had to concede the last fact. "I just completely freaked out, and stormed away from her. I never thought… I never thought it could possibly be true…"

Before the Doctor had a chance to ask any more questions, though, there was a distinct noise outside of the chamber they were all trapped in. The trio then stood, Rynne standing right in front of the door as whirring and an exploding mechanism set it blasting inwards. Luckily, the student was standing back far enough not to be hurt. However, the sight before her was far from a happy one, instead bringing her to her knees. This was the final proof: everything was real. Her stories were real, the manuscript was real, the Doctor was real… and now this was, too. A horribly streamlined, golden pepper pot guarded the doorway, preventing any escape, its weapons poised in case any of them decided to try and make a wrong move.

The gravity of the situation left the Doctor speechless, Martha reminded darkly of their time back in New York, where the Cult of Skaro tried to set up a beacon to others of their kind at the top of the Empire State Building, back in the 1930's when it was busy being built. Rynne looked up at the metal monster, lip quivering in a grim realisation of her own, unable to stay completely silent as the deadly eyestalk lowered so the horror looked directly at her. "It's not Darlk… it's _Dalek_…"


	12. Another Revelation

**Etched in History**

**_Another Revelation_**

Absolutely terrified, Rynne just watched in horror as the golden Dalek before her looked down straight at her, the young woman expecting to be exterminated at any time. It didn't make sense, of course, considering that if that were the case, all three would have been destroyed by now, but it didn't stop any emotions from bubbling to the surface. The tears that had been banished just a few moments beforehand were now rising back up to her eyes, making the base of her vision blurry, throat drying at the same time, the only thing that stopped her from screaming. An eternity passed in mere seconds, the being completely silent as the trio watched on, unsure exactly what they should be doing, eyes all transfixed on the metal monster that commanded all of their attention. The Doctor even looked on, utterly gobsmacked at the sight that stood so defiantly before him. "This is impossible…" he breathed, mostly to himself. "Absolutely impossible…"

Martha agreed, her eyes just as wide as Rynne's as she slowly moved her hand around the Doctor's arm, asking for protection without any words. It was ridiculous to anyone else that she was so dependent on someone that was basically only armed with his mind, a quick tongue and a sonic screwdriver, but that was exactly what she was doing. The Time Lord was her rock, the only constant thing during this travelling through time and space, as well as the only person – being – that she felt she could totally rely on. "But-but-but…" The trainee doctor couldn't get her words out properly, gaze trapped by the creature that had entered the room. "Is that Dalek… Dalek Caan?"

The Dalek finally moved again, the eyestalk lifting to the two at the other side of the small cell, head turning just a touch. **"I serve Dalek Caan,"** the creature replied, metallic voice matching that metallic armour. **"You are the Doc-tor,"** it then accused, pitch of its voice becoming a little higher as it finally made its realisation, first instinct to turn and destroy the Time Lord where he stood. However, there was something stopping it, an overriding factor that not even the Doctor could place. **"You must stay here, with the human!"**

There was an order, with the Doctor obviously opening his mouth to protest. Before he could accurately get out exactly what he wanted to say, though, two more Daleks appeared at the entrance of the cell, guards for such distinguished – and dangerous – prisoners. Deciding to be quiet, at least for now, the Time Lord closed his mouth, swallowing a sarcastic comment. Martha, naturally, couldn't help but say something, feeling as if she could fall into nothingness at any moment, just wishing that all of this was some terrible nightmare. "Doctor, I though Dalek Caan was the last…?"

"Obviously not," he then cut in quietly. To the Dalek, his voice was even more sharp. "What do you want? Why haven't you exterminated us yet?"

"Don't encourage it!" Martha then hissed, hating these moments that the Doctor had, always wanting to push the moment as far as it could possibly go.

**"You will serve your purpose,"** it answered coldly, the two lights at the top of its armour flashing with every syllable like silent drums. Returning its own hard gaze to Rynne, it spoke again. **"You will come with me."**

Rynne then managed to break her gaze away from the creature that had been part of her nightmares. "B-but…"

**"Follow! Follow!"** A Dalek was never a creature to stop and talk with its prisoners for long, and this Dalek was no different from the stereotyped creation of a sick genius. Too terrified to disobey, Rynne slowly stood, not wanting it to think that she would do anything stupid. Her whole existence was currently balancing on a tightrope, and the last thing that she desired was the knowledge of a Dalek ray gun, and the pain that it would cause before death. With careful manoeuvring, the gold monstrosity then backed out of the room, the command given to the young woman obviously now in effect.

Rynne looked back at the Doctor and Martha, wishing that she knew that they would be okay. She knew all too well from her writing how the Daleks hated the Time Lords, so it could easily be conceived that they would finally finish off their war with the Doctor's death… "Wait!" The Dalek snapped its head around at the sound of Rynne's own command, pausing in its movements. "I need them both to come with me. They have to help me, I can't do it without them." Her words made it seem that she knew exactly what they wanted from her, quick thinking hopefully there to preserve both the Doctor and Martha's lives. There was no way of knowing what was to come, but if they were together, there was always more hope. "Please, let them come. I'll do anything you ask."

Pausing, the creature seemed to mull over the options, deciding to concede to Rynne's request. **"They may accompany you to Dalek Caan."** Resuming its movements, the two Daleks at the door stayed perfectly still. The trio within the room then left together, the Doctor nodding gratefully at Rynne, little emotion showing on his features. Martha was too busy following the Doctor's lead to give a decent set of thanks, but it was one of the least important things right at that moment.

Leaving the room, the first Dalek began to lead the way, the two guards following up behind to prevent any chance of escape. The corridors that they walked along were a mixture of silver and gold, all crisp lines, reminiscent of the cell's interior. The only noises that could be heard were the metal voices of communicating Daleks, the creatures too far away to make out anything but what could have just been the buzzing of a machine. Hearts pounded, as they travelled along this totally unfamiliar territory, something making the Doctor particularly nervous.

Dalek Caan was the only surviving member of the Cult of Skaro, a group of four Daleks with the power of imagination, something that had been stamped out of the race, simply so they could create new ideas to survive and protect the Dalek way of life. The Doctor and Martha had already met them back during the Depression when they tried to hijack the building of the Empire State building, and the other three had been destroyed, Dalek Caan using an emergency temporal shift to escape. However, the Doctor believed that Caan had been the only Dalek left in existence, so how could three drones be here, sent to guard them? More gene splicing?

Walking further into this unknown maze, the group finally reached a set of doors. The first Dalek approached the door, waited for a moment, and then had the doors open by accessing a panel on the side of the square arch. With that, the doors slid open, revealing a much larger room, complete with a number of advanced computers around what seemed to be an almost circular control room. The trio were all forced forwards, reaching the central panel, all to meet a single Dalek. **"We meet again, Doc-tor,"** the Dalek announced, its voice much lower than the usual drones.

"Dalek Caan. I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances," he replied dryly.

**"You are unimportant. Which is the girl?"**

As Martha began to put her hand in the air, the first other Dalek they had seen turned its eyestalk to Rynne. The girl looking around, she then stepped forward. "I'm Rynne." Lowering her head slightly, her heartbeat was almost unbearable, pounding away as if she were about to collapse again. There was something holding her back, though, which was lucky. She was sure that the Daleks would do something as soon as there was any weakness shown. "I'll do anything you want. Please, just leave them alone. Please."

The eyestalk slowly reaching the desired destination, Dalek Caan moved forward so that it was only about a foot away from the young woman. Turning its head, the Dalek then screeched out another order. **"Open the cage!"** Another Dalek answered its instruction, a panel pressed, showing Jane trapped behind the soundproof glass, the old woman looking out at the trio with a look of terrible defeat about her. **"You will obey the Daleks, or this human will be _exterminated_."** Looking on in horror, fresh, frightened tears fell down Rynne's cheeks. Now, no matter what Dalek Caan asked, she would be forced to do it. Despite everything, Jane had saved her, had been her friend… and she wasn't about to be the cause of her death, whether the Doctor was involved or not.

* * *

**A/N:** _Oh! I'm really starting to enjoy myself with this one... and I already have two follow-up stories from this one. Maybe I'll start a series... hmm... Anyway, I would adore some more reviews, guys... just don't complain about my writing style! I can take good, constructive criticism, but it annoys me when people get complaints just because they don't like a writer's personal style. If you don't like it for no other reason than you simply don't, please don't bother to write a review. Honestly. Thousands of people enjoy Stephen King, and although I like the ideas behind his stories, I don't personally like the way he writes his work... it doesn't mean I'll tell others that he's terrible. It's all personal taste! _

_Sorry about the rant XD Anyway, read, review, comment... I just hope as many people as possible are enjoying it! I've just added chapter titles and updated all of the chapters without any notes, too, which is immensely exciting - or not. There should be another update in the next few days, hopefully!_


	13. Writing the Plot

**Etched in History**

**_Writing the Plot_**

The Doctor looked on with a desperate frown on his brow, looking between the horror etched into Rynne's features over to the woman trapped by the Daleks, along with the fact that it looked as if she already knew she was going to die. Martha just took a sharp intake of breath, not knowing who the woman was either, but not wanting anyone to get caught in the crossfire of something that could escalate into a bloody battle. "Who is that, Rynne?"

"That's Jane…" The student shook her head sadly, unable to move her gaze from the woman that Dalek Caan obviously wanted to flaunt.

"Jane? The one that sold you out?"

That comment from the dark-skinned companion of the Doctor was enough to snap the gaze, though, with Rynne turning around to shoot a dangerously dark look at her. "Just… just don't, okay? She was the one that tried to warn me, and I turned my back on her. I can't do that again."

**"That is a most wise move,"** the low, gravelly tone of Caan agreed, still terribly close to Rynne. **"You must complete the manuscript."**

Rynne then turned her gaze to the Doctor, a sad expression that gave him a silent apology for having to do something she had now realised was wrong. The realisation had come when she had seen Jane trapped like that… if she hadn't have been forced to write like this, the girl would have just gone home and finished the story without any thought whatsoever. At the same time, though, if such an evil race were willing to use living human hostages for their methods of persuasion, there had to be something else about the manuscript that held some sort of power to it. Earlier, Rynne had believed almost naïvely that if she wrote all of her knowledge down, everything would once again be fine… but now, the Doctor's stance told her that something awful was going to happen. Now, of course, there seemed no way of stopping it. "I... I need materials."

Whirring its head around, Dalek Caan kept its eyestalk glaring right at the creature he hated before him. **"A computer had been prepared. You will write there."** An open mouth to protect for a pen and paper, and Caan already refused. **"You will write there!"**

As Rynne was ushered over to the computer by one of the Dalek guards, the Doctor carefully took a step forward. "Caan." Snapping its frame back to the Doctor, the sole surviving member of the Cult of Skaro said nothing. "There was only you. Where have _they_ all come from?"

**"I am creating the new Dalek Empire,"** the tinny monster retorted. **"This is only the beginning. Daleks will reign supreme!"** The creature turned a moment to make sure that Rynne had started to type, and then returned its attention to the Time Lord. **"With the technology of our enemies we will grow stronger! Not even the Doc-tor will destroy us!"**

"If only you had listened to Dalek Sec. He knew that you needed to change, and-"

**"He was a traitor to the Dalek race! He had to be _exterminated_!"**

The Doctor looked at his enemy with disgust. "That's just it, isn't it? As soon as anything new comes along, as soon as there are any different ideas, you destroy them. You were made with imagination, you have your own name... isn't _that_ against original Dalek programming?"

It was a shame that a Dalek didn't have a readable expression, as the Doctor looked a touch smug when his logic stopped the creature in its tracks. Instead, it just turned, moving over to Rynne, watching over her shoulder. The young woman sniffed back tears as she concentrated on nothing but the screen, typing as fast as she physically could. However, the girl then stopped, unable to carry on. **"What is the meaning of your hesitation?"**

"I... I've hit a block." She turned, seeing the unforgiving eyepiece of the Dalek beside her, realising that she would have to explain it further without it saying a word. "I just... the words won't come." Pausing, Rynne looked at the Dalek, pleading with it. "Please... can I see Jane? Talk to Jane? I'm too worried to sit and write like this. Oh, please, I swear I'll finish it, but I need to see her!"

**"Bring the human,"** Dalek Caan then decided. **"You shall be monitored. You have 600 rels to restart your task."** With that, the Dalek then left her alone, returning to the Doctor and Martha. At first, it seemed that it was going to say something, but it just left them, going back to its previous position before they entered the control room. Rynne just couldn't believe that she only had such a short space of time to see Jane again: a Dalek rel was approximately the same time as a second, so there was little time to do or discuss anything! At least she had the Doctor and Martha in the room with her, though. They may not have been right beside her, telling her what to do next because of the guards, but their presence was enough: to keep her sane, if only for a little while.


	14. Clarity

**Etched in History**

_**Clarity**_

The cage that held the older woman slowly opened, two Dalek guards moving beside her as she walked slowly over to the poor student. Retreating a little, the biological machines then stayed perfectly still and silent. If everyone in the room didn't realise the true danger that they were in, they would have sworn that they were only life-sized models of the monsters, but there was no time for a pause to ponder the phenomenon properly. Despite everything, though, the sight that commanded all eyes – and eyestalks – was the meeting of the two women. This time, of course, Rynne knew the truth, so there were no immediate hugs and the like involved.

Stopping about a metre or so away from the younger woman, Jane gave a weak smile. "I'm glad to see that you're okay." In return, Rynne looked her old mentor up and down briefly to make sure that she definitely wasn't hurt, at least not yet, and then returned the smile with a glare, unable to actually say anything. "I'm sorry, Rynne, but what would you have me do? You can see how terrifying they are, and I know this is the only way that we could be saved. The Daleks promised me that we could go free, so…" After Jane trailed from her sentence, the Doctor opened his mouth to form a snappy response, but Rynne just raised her hand to keep him quiet for a little longer. Looking more than a little surprised, he and Martha then exchanged looks, and then their eyes returned to the scene before them. Rynne, of course, hadn't turned her head at all, the glare becoming even more poisonous in its intensity. A step forward, and Jane may have seemed a touch worried, but she still extended her arms for an embrace, all in the hope that she would be forgiven. "I knew you'd understand!" Another step, and then Rynne's eyes narrowed with an unknown intention. Suddenly, there was a sharp _crack!_ of flesh hitting flesh resounding in the underground chamber, where Rynne's hand slapped Jane's cheek. Hard.

"How _dare_ you! How _dare_ you do that? Do you know what this could do? Do you know what _they_ could do with everything?" Her hand moved up and slapped her again, the other woman beginning to shake, but refusing to retaliate. "And you think the two of us are more important than everything else? Have you actually wondered what they want to do with everything I've written? _Have you?_" A torrent of fury erupted, and both the Doctor and Martha hand to come between them, with the Time Lord pulling Jane back a few steps and Martha standing in front of Rynne, her hands resting on the girl's shoulders. "You don't _deserve_ to live!"

Martha looked deeply into Rynne's eyes, just seeing a blazing fire burning through her, straight into Jane. The amount of anger there was unbelievable, considering the crime. Yes, Jane may have done something more wrong than she could ever hope to understand, but she had at least thought that she was saving Rynne's life. "Come on, is that really fair? She wanted the best for you, and she didn't know what would happen!" In response to that, Rynne said nothing, glaring ahead as she did, although something had changed. With Martha's frown of uncertainty, the Doctor let go of Jane, leaving her standing with tears now rolling down her cheeks, all so he could have a proper look at the girl. The tenseness in her muscles had left her, the gaze now unfocussed as she seemed to be somewhere else, Martha's touch the only thing keeping her physically steady. "Rynne? Are you alright?"

Pulling his spectacles out of his pocket, the Doctor accompanied his companion in frowning, although his was more from concentration, a million thoughts running through his mind. "Rynne… what do you see?"

Martha glanced at him, but the Doctor ignored it, knowing that she could easily ask questions later. The student blinked, and the glare softened into something more like pained grief. "I-I can see it."

"What can you see?" Repeating the question again, the Time Lord's voice was much lower, almost secretive. With a brief shake of her head, the girl opened her mouth a little, unsure of herself as some kind of scene unfolded in her mind. The Doctor looked away for a moment, deliberating within his mind before lifting his own hands. Instead of meaning to harm, though, his fingers reached out for the student's temples, his face merely a handful of inches from hers as he closed his eyes, waiting to feel the contact of skin as he prepared to create a telepathic link with her, making him able to see exactly what was in the back of her mind.

"**600 rels have passed! You must continue working! Continue! **_**Continue**_**!"** The tinny resonance of a Dalek's speech echoed upon the silence the group had cultivated, forcing Rynne to snap back to reality too quickly. The Doctor even turned to see them, but not after he had already touched the sides of Rynne's head.

"I'm trying to _help_ her!" the Time Lord bit back, much more concerned about what was going on in that mind of hers before the Daleks decided to do something to forcibly extract the information from the girl's mind. Actually, he was rather surprised at the fact that they hadn't just kidnapped her and used that plunger-esque device to drag the electrical signals of knowledge so they didn't have to wait, but he wasn't about to point that out to them. After all, Dalek Caan could have easily gone mad and forgotten about the most obvious things when creating this new 'empire' of his, and there was no way that the Doctor wanted Rynne to go through any pain.

All the while, the Doctor's hands stayed on Rynne's temples, although not in the proper position for him to connect to her mind, but that touch was enough. Without another word, he had a flash of what she saw, and it was horrific. Orange skies burned black and grey whilst the air was filled with the sounds of screaming and metallic bloodlust. Red grasses found themselves reduced to cinders from the weapons of the two great armies fighting upon it, where the shrilling of laser guns shot across the once-perfect landscape, and – "_Gallifrey_…" The Doctor couldn't help but whisper the name of his home as he recognised scenes from that last, supposed 'Great' Time War, where the Daleks had managed to land upon the beautiful planet and start to ravage it. The images were so strong, he almost believed that he could smell the smoke and taste the ash, but that wasn't right. "Impossible…"

By this point, another had noticed the ruckus, and Dalek Caan took only such a short time to return to their position. **"What is the meaning of this?" **The tone was defiant, demanding them all to just do as it commanded. The Doctor was just too confused, knowing that it took much more than that to slip into the precise thoughts of a human, making him wonder if there was some kind of so-called 'psychic' phenomenon with the girl.

Martha and Jane simply stood, open mouthed as they watched the pair there, transfixed and even able to ignore the Dalek leader commanding them to explain. Before anyone could even begin to speak, though, Rynne slowly lifted her hands to meet the Doctor's, their gazes locked intensely for a few moments as their skin touched. The pregnant air held so many secrets, so many questions that were left unanswered, and in that moment, so much could become clear…

Until Rynne's eyes rolled into the back of her head, legs giving way underneath her as she crumpled to the ground. **"Aid her! **_**Aid her**_**!" **The instruction wasn't out of kindness and fear, of course, but of something else that no one else could really fathom at the moment. Even the Time Lord was too preoccupied with Rynne to listen to the Dalek, as he threw himself down on his knees, wide-eyed, not knowing what happened, and not even able to begin to tell the others what to do.

Martha was more than useful at that moment, rushing to the other side of the girl, convinced for a moment that she had just fainted under all of the stress that she had been under. However, Rynne them started to twitch, her fingers and ankles jumping like a scratched record, all before a full attack made her spasm with pain, suddenly retching and writhing, the agony racing through every pore of Rynne's being. "Oh, my God! Rynne? Rynne!" Martha tapped her cheeks with her hands, hoping that the girl would respond, but it seemed to be too late. Jane hung back, the tears more pronounced as she choked back sobs, the only sounds she made utterly incoherent. The Doctor watched on, the shock even making him waver. At the same time, though, that snapshot picture of Gallifrey was whirring in his mind, and he couldn't seem to focus on anything else, as if there was something stopping him from helping. So, it was up to his companion to do her best, although what was happening made no sense. "Come on, Rynne! You're alright!"

It didn't seem that way after a while, though, considering that the seizure stopped along with Rynne's breathing. This fact seemed to be the only thing that could bring the Doctor out of his frozen state, hand now at the student's throat as he checked her pulse. Nothing. "Martha, there's no heartbeat." Even though his words seemed calm, the spark in his gaze spoke of worry, and the medical student quickly got to her knees, straightening out Rynne's legs before she moved back up to her chest. "Martha!" The sharp tone made them both move faster, even though time itself seemed to slow. Hands clasped together, Martha pumped on top of Rynne's heart, remembering that the girl had told her it was off to the side a little. The Doctor, meanwhile, started with the kiss of life, breathing air into the lungs as best as he could, pinching her nose, determined to save her. The pair worked hard, and after a minute, the Doctor felt a small splutter beneath him. "It's alright, it's working, Martha, it's working!"

To the Doctor's grin, Martha matched it, stopping the pumping slowly as she lowered her head to Rynne's chest, carefully listening for the beating there. Her gaze quickly became grave, though, as the beating was off, almost as if there was a murmur there. "No, Doctor, something's wrong!"

"What? What is it?"

"It's… Her heart, it's an irregular beat!" Almost jumping downwards to kneel opposite his companion, the Doctor frowned, wondering whether this was the girl's condition getting even worse. Martha leaned backwards so he could move in properly, quickly resting his own head softly on her chest, the colour draining visibly from his already worn out features. "Doctor?" His head lying at one position, it then moved backwards, more towards himself, as Martha presumed he couldn't find Rynne's heart. As she was about to point it out to him, Rynne sighed, her eyes now closing as the pain floored her, a true faint this time. The Doctor, on the other hand, slowly moved himself back into position on his knees, looking directly at his companion. Impatience then took over, and Martha flung her arms outwards as she almost snapped at him. "Doctor, what is it?"

"Her heart…" The Time Lord's voice then cracked, looking down at the now peaceful girl, lying on the ground, forgetting about everything else but the three of them. "Martha, Rynne isn't sick. She's got two hearts."

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the late update, I've had exam results and all kinds of things to worry about the past few weeks - university here I come! - but a review tonight made me want to hurry myself up and finish this chapter, so here you go. See? Reviews feed me muse:P Anyway, please tell me how you feel this is going, and I hope you like the twist to the story!!_


	15. It's All About Us

**Etched In History**

**"_It's All About Us…"_**

**__**

"What do you mean 'she's got two hearts'?"

"What else do you think I could possibly mean?"

"But-but that's impossible, yeah? That would mean that she's-"

"**A Time Lord."** The staccato tones that left Dalek Caan's vocal unit should have been full of wonder and a million happy questions, but the Doctor seemed almost scared by the prospect, and a dark shiver felt its way down Martha's spine. The two other, guarding Daleks then spun their eyestalks to face their leader as if in silent question. **"She is complete and will now finish the manuscript! The human will wake her!"**

Both other Daleks could have been described as speechless if they weren't so obviously static in their expression. One of them – it was impossible to tell them apart, after all – moved itself so it was at her head and then started a scanning procedure. **"Bioscan correct. The DNA is Time Lord! Exterminate! **_**Exterminate**_**!"**

"**She will not be exterminated!"** Dalek Caan's response was something else. What was going on? How did any of the Dalek's responses make sense? **"The girl is important to us! There will be no extermination!"**

"**But she is a Time Lord!"**

"_**You are forbidden to exterminate!"**_

The unnamed Dalek moved back a step, the eyestalk lowering itself for a moment in what must have been a gesture of respect. At exactly the same time, the two units replied to the command in unison. **"We hear and obey!" **

It must have been obvious on the faces of both the Doctor and Martha that they were surprised, but the last surviving member of the Cult of Skaro just ignored them, sight now focussed on the girl, still lying on the ground. Her breathing was deep and steady, almost as if she were in some kind of deep sleep. **"Wake her!" **Obediently, Martha had to comply, knowing that she was expendable in the Dalek's grand plan. What else could she really do? It would be better to just play along for the moment and see if an opportunity appeared a little later in the proceedings than give the Dalek a reason to kill her now.

Softly cupping Rynne's cheek, Martha whispered. "Rynne, are you okay? Rynne?" At first, there was nothing, so the medical student gave a small shake to her shoulder, trying again. Watching the girl intently, the dark skinned companion suddenly felt terribly inadequate in a space full of beings that she had never dreamed existed a year ago, confused about exactly what was going to happen. Glancing briefly at the Doctor for support, it was clear that he was still in shock, the mixture of joy and grave fear something awful to see in the Time Lord's eyes. "Rynne!" Even if the last was more a hiss than anything else, Martha kept trying. If she couldn't wake the girl up, then she had outlived her usefulness, and –

She wasn't about to keep thinking about what could be her demise. She just wasn't. Anyway, before Martha could worry about anything else, there was a noise from her new charge, as if she were just waking up from such a long night's sleep. "Wh-what?" Groggily, the student opened her eyes, exhaustion plain on her face as she tried to balance herself. Nothing made sense to her as memories from the hours before began to shift and sort themselves out a little more quickly. Like an icy bucket, the realisations of what had truly happened rushed through the girl's system, along with a wave of sensations that didn't make sense to her all at once. Letting out a moan, this was worse than any hangover that the girl had ever had, as if she could feel the entire world spinning beneath her feet. As her hands lifted to cover her now closed eyes, her face was contorted into a combination of pain and confusion, concentrating on something that she really couldn't understand. "No… _no_…"

Martha then looked back from Rynne, then to Jane, but the expression that haunted her the most was the Doctor's. It was almost as if he was unsure as to which emotion should be the one he should be feeling. A hand was clenched, resting on his chest where there must have been a gap in the centre of his binary cardiovascular system. His jaw was loose, where words should be flowing in his current silence. Tears fell down his cheeks of their own accord, the shock obvious. "A Time Lord." The Doctor repeated Dalek Caan's original diagnosis, leaning forward once more to check the pulse in Rynne's neck with his fingers. It was just as he expected, though, that unusual pattern beating through his own body, recognising it as a natural sound from his native planet. The fingers moved then to stroke the girl's hair, moving her hands from her face as she tried to cope with all of the new information in her mind. "Rynne. I'm here."

"Doctor… I can see…"

"Too much." Sighing, the Time Lord closed his own eyes at that point, his own system getting re-used to sensing another like himself. It was just the next step in admitting that he was no longer the only one. So much time had passed, forcing himself to live with the loss of his homeworld and his people that he could barely believe the events unfolding before him, almost thinking that he must be asleep, dreaming something impossible. Rynne allowed her own eyes to open then, blinking back to normal as she was becoming a touch more comfortable with the situation. Comfortable was probably a strong word, though she had been exposed to so much in the past few days, it was doubtful that there was anything that had happened that had really sunken in for her, the information staying at the surface until the true acceptance came later on.

Her hand moving, holding the Doctor's, they just looked at each other, their gazes filled with the same terror and uncertainty as the other. That originally forbidden touch had become a lifeline, with the Doctor holding onto the last surviving part of his planet's bloodline, along with Rynne knowing that he was the only one that would ever be able to understand her. "It's all about us, isn't it?" He said nothing in reply, although the girl didn't need the answer. Her gaze then travelled around the room, seeing Jane still shaking, with Martha still beside her, concerned. The Daleks were perfectly still and silent for the moment, and there was something that gave Rynne a new sense of courage near them. If that was an inherited memory from her true heritage or a symptom of her completely losing it was unclear, though. Lowering her voice, the girl looked right back at the Doctor, giving his hand a squeeze. "We're the only ones in the room that know what they want to know, aren't we?" A nod, and Rynne gave a shake of her head. "But… but we can't. If what I see – what I think I know – is real, then they could take over everything!"

"And they will. But you have no choice. If you don't, they'll start killing, and the killing won't stop. As long as they don't hurt you, you could be waiting forever, the Daleks wiping out race after race, blaming you for it all." His voice became much more gravelly because of the emotion, although his tears were now restricted to just building up in his eyes.

Slowly sitting up, Rynne looked at Dalek Caan. "I can't carry on now, not after all of this."

A few moments passed, and Caan finally replied. **"You will carry on, or your friends will die."** It was so matter-of-fact, it could have been discussing something bland and boring.

"I need to rest! Didn't you just see that? And… and I can't concentrate on anything. Wouldn't you… wouldn't you want all of the writing to be accurate?"

Turning the eyestalk, the Dalek looked up and down, seeing the despair evident in the room. It presumed that their spirits had already been broken, and escape was impossible, considering the amount of Dalek drones that it had created using his superior intellect and imagination.** "You will be permitted to sleep. Then you will complete the manuscript!"** Pausing, Caan swivelled its head to the two guarding monstrosities beside him. **"Take the prisoners to rest. Keep them under surveillance. The Time Lords will be brought to me in six hours."**

The Dalek moved away, with the two right beside the small group forcing them back out of the control room and into a the corridor. The prisoners were caught, the plan was set, and there was no way out. What was worse, the fact that the Doctor and Rynne would be used for information in the morning, or the fact that it sounded as if the Time Lords were the only useful beings in the Daleks' cells? After all of the centuries, the Doctor knew that the malevolent machines never kept anything that was of no use to them, and lives meant nothing…

* * *

_**A/N:** Sorry about the delay on this latest chapter... you know, extra reading and reviews make me work faster... :P_


	16. Grief and Hope

**Etched In History**

**_Grief and Hope_**

The familiarity of the cell was far from comforting, although at least it was far enough away from the group's captors. Jane sat rocking in the corner, with Martha sitting right beside her, a hand squeezing her shoulder in support. However, the two beings most in shock were on the other side of the small room had to be Rynne and the Doctor. Martha had never seen the 900-and-odd year old being look this way before, not even when he spoke of Rose. Unshed tears stayed perfectly still in his eyes as Rynne sat in his embrace, the pair both confused about what was going on, but glad that there was finally someone else there for them. The girl herself seemed to just be in some kind of shock, as if she hoped it were all a dream, where the Doctor didn't even seem to register where he even was. Nothing made sense, the world tipping upside down, and Martha was just caught in the middle of it.

After all of their time together, the dark skinned doctor-to-be could only hope for a taste of the closeness that the Time Lord was now sharing with a girl that was still practically a complete stranger; despite the seriousness of the situation, there was, admittedly, a pang of jealousy that Martha was ashamed of. Ignoring it wasn't as easy as she would have originally anticipated either, but she was doing a good job, concentrating instead on Jane and how she was holding up. The rocking continued, with small whimpers of fear. Beforehand, her future may have been uncertain at best, but now she had definite proof of her impending doom, and she wasn't standing up well in its face. Turning to the Doctor, Martha gave a weak smile, nodding over to Rynne. "She alright, Doctor?"

"What do you think?" he snapped back, pulling the girl even closer as he felt her shudder under his touch. At the hurt look from his current companion, though, his annoyed expression softened a touch. "I'm sorry. I am, honestly, but I know how she feels, I know what she's going through, and it's not fair. It was like someone managed to cut her off from her true bloodline. But it still doesn't make sense!"

Sniffing, Martha let the biting comment go, deciding to just go with the final words instead. "It's kinda like the thing you used. You know, with the watch?"

"The fob watch from the Chameleon Arch?" Frowning, the Doctor paused for a moment, thinking about that possibility. Only a few months beforehand, the pair had to hide from the Family of Blood, a short-lived race that wanted to absorb Time Lord DNA to make them live forever. Of course, they could follow the Doctor's scent across time and space, so the only way to make a good escape was by changing the whole of his physiology by the use of the Chameleon Arch in the TARDIS. A painful process, the machine then split the true essence from the body, putting it into a fob watch and rewriting the Doctor's genetic code to make him a complete human. Along with a convincing past, he believed that he was a schoolteacher named John Smith, with only Martha knowing the truth, until the fob watch was opened again and the Doctor returned to who he really was. "But that wouldn't account for the blackouts. Or the fact that her heart was in the wrong place for a human."

"And what if it was a botched job?"

There was really no answer to that, was there? Pondering the thought, Rynne leaned further into the Doctor, resting her head on his shoulder. "You keep talking as if I'm not here. And I thought Time Lords were meant to be important," she added dryly. For all intents and purposes, the girl was taking the information rather well, but that was only the surface talking. Who knew what was going on deep down? Only that morning, Rynne had no idea that she was something not of this world, and now she was faced with the fact that her age may not be her real age, and she was part of a civilisation that was one of the oldest in the entire universe. Plus, she was only one of the two left alive… a humbling thought indeed.

Even the fact that Rynne had said what she was out loud was enough to bring a lump to the Doctor's throat. It was still a strange feeling, admitting to himself that he was no longer the last. Of course, it was what he had openly dreamed of, but Time Lord DNA was different to the usual human stuff that you generally found, sprawled across the galaxies. No, the Time Lords could feel each other – not specifically, but they could sense others of their species being born or dying, like there was a wonderful web linking them all together, greater than any of the technologies that they could create. What made this all worse was the fact that the Doctor had had all of his life to get used to the sensation of spinning worlds beneath his feet, the feeling of Time Lords, the flow of Time itself… and now Rynne was being bombarded by all kinds of information that she couldn't digest. How was that fair? Despite questioning, there was no extra memory for the girl's past before Earth, either, which was awful. Was she created on Earth? Did the Time Lords – whichever ones were involved – remove those memories from her for a purpose?

None of it made sense. After Rynne's comment, silence once again took over the room, leaving the foursome tense and unhappy. Who would feel anything else, considering they knew that their death sentences were coming sooner rather than later? The only possible consolation for this was a lack of Daleks, though. At least the metal monsters left them alone in the room. Plus, of course, the cell was no longer deadlock sealed. Using the sonic screwdriver, the Doctor could spring them all out… if he didn't know that there were Dalek guards right outside their door. Such a move wouldn't have been the wisest, would it?

* * *

It would have been pointless to stay awake, and being tired would have been no excuse not to carry on with the task at hand, so the group decided wisely to take up the Daleks' offer of rest. It would be ridiculous to squander any opportunities from the dark race, and even a couple of hours was better than nothing. That is to say, there wasn't exactly a number of happy, fitful dreams, but it was better than nothing; just enough to recharge the batteries. However, peace wasn't going to reign forever, and movement was heard outside of the door, to which both the Doctor and Rynne jumped up first, followed closely by Martha. Jane somehow managed to sleep through it, the whirring of machinery seeming to quieten, like it was moving down a corridor. The trio looked at each other for a moment questioningly, making sure that they hadn't just dreamed what they had heard, but their questions were answered faster than they would have originally hoped.

Before long, the noise had dissipated into nothing, and a glow could be seen at the edges of the doorframe, accompanied by a familiar humming sound. Not daring to say anything, the Doctor, Martha and Rynne stood back, watching the door intently for any more movement. Patience was paid off rather quickly as the door was pulled to one side, showing something more than just unexpected, with the three looking out into the hallway practically open-mouthed.

"I would imagine that you would all like a chance to escape?"

* * *

_**A/N:** Comments? Want me to work faster? You know what to do, read and review! Wow, that even rhymed... not bad for this time of night XD In all honesty, not my favourite chapter so far, but I needed to get it out of the way for the next turn in the story... who wants to bet who the saviour is? The first person to guess correctly gets a sneak preview of the next story! I don't think I can say fairer than that ;)_


End file.
